A £30,000 appeal has been launched to improve facilities at The King’s School to boost sporting and recreational activity in the evening.

Members of the newly-formed Ottery St Mary netball team are leading the campaign to raise funds to install three sets of lights over the hard courts in the school’s multi-use games area (MUGA).

Currently, they are unable to use the facility for training in the winter due to the lack of lights, and have to use a court in Cranbrook.

Club founder Natasha Matthews says the project will benefit the community and wants to support the school, which due to funding pressures, are unable to finance the lights.

Natasha said: “It will benefit everybody not just the netball club.

“Honiton Netball League would benefit as it would be another venue that is flood lit.

“The nearest lit courts are Honiton, Colyton LED. Having somewhere local would be a massive benefit. It could bring money into Ottery.”

Devon County Councillor Claire Wright has donated £2,000 towards the cause and members are looking at other fundraising events to boost the total.

Player Anna Hoondert added: “We have it right here on our doorstep, we can walk it but now we have to car share or drive.

“I think it’s an amazing opportunity to have something for youngsters to come and do in the evening.”

Laurence Evans, business manager for the school, said: “The school is delighted with the efforts Tasha and the Ottery Netball Club are making to install lighting on our MUGA and fully support their fundraising efforts .

“We have seen an overall increase in recent years of the community using our facilities and floodlighting on our MUGA would provide the school with further opportunities to broaden community use, as well as enhance the facilities available to students.

“National funding pressures in education and local authority funding arrangements mean that we are not in a position to contribute financially at this time but we will be happy to invest time and energy into managing the capital project and ensure its availability for community use.”

If you would like to donate contact Ottery Netball Club through Facebook.